ABSTRACT
As loss prevention professionals ponder the reasons for dishonesty, understanding human behavior will help put everything into perspective. Signicant research has been completed on why people commit crimes in general, but an insignicant portion is geared toward theft specically. It is obvious that individuals who cause external or internal theft do not just wake up one day and decide this is the way to go. Research on adolescent behavior shows that early life in¯uences will impact decision-making ability throughout adulthood.
